Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The Rhythm in the Weave

In so many parts of the process of weaving, I find myself remarking on the
similarity of the feeling I get when dancing or making music. Threading
the June Towel of the Month, I experienced a simple example of this, and I
thought I'd try to put it in words.

Block A is threaded 1,3,1,3,1,2,1,3,1,3,1,2. And I might look at that
sequence like something in 3/4 time, saying to myself, "(1-3) (1-3) (1-2),
(1-3) (1-3) (1-2)." But since I like to hold four threads in my hand at a
time, I divide the sequence into groups of four, and say, "(1-3-1-3),
(1-2-1-3), (1-3-1-2)." It seems harder to remember as a sequence, but I
like the way each group of 4 is different, and the pattern they make seems
to go away and then come back, kind of like tension and resolution in a
chord progression.

I know, I'm mixing my similes. But this is how I entertain my brain and
keep my place, and I find it somehow meditative. It's something about
going through time and through the task at hand, and when you've repeated
it enough times, you're done and where did the time go?.